Portland’s living room—a.k.a. Pioneer Courthouse Square—hosted two very different guests last weekend less than 24 hours apart.
On a rainy Friday
evening, April 15, the Oregon tea party held court as part of its
now-annual tax day protest. The following day at noon under better
weather conditions, a collection of Oregon unions led by Portland Jobs
With Justice occupied the square for their “Jobs, Not Cuts” rally.
As a divided Congress battles over where to spend and what to cut, WW
attended both rallies to put Oregon’s pro-spending unions and
slash-happy tea party to the test. What scares, delights and concerns
these two groups? What do they think about the budget cuts? Who had a
bigger turnout? Who spent more? And what do they agree on?
Sights and Sounds from the Tea Party Rally
Video courtesy Evan Sernoffsky
CROWD SIZE: Tea party: About 300 Unions: About 2,500
DEMOGRAPHICS: Tea party: Mostly baby-boomers, mixed gender, all white (one African-American in anti-tea party protest. Does that count?). Unions: Mixed-age, mixed gender, mixed ethnicity (mostly white, but hey, it’s Oregon).
MUSIC: Tea party: Cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” Unions: “Solidarity Forever,” and other union favorites.
BIGGEST CELEBRITY: Tea party: Conservative talk-radio host Victoria Taft. Unions:
Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of
Wisconsin, a key figure in the protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker and his attempts to strip public-sector workers of the right to
collectively bargain.
HISTORICAL REFERENCES: Tea party: Ronald Reagan and Thomas Jefferson. Unions: Mitchell quoted German anti-Nazi theologian Martin Niemöller on the importance of speaking out during oppressive regimes.
COSTUMES: Tea party:
No real costumes, but lots of red, white and blue. One man sported an
anti-Che Guevara shirt, (think a no-smoking sign with Che instead of a
cigarette).Unions: Alliance
for Democracy dressed like Supreme Court justices with corporate logos
adorning their robes to protest pro-corporate judicial decisions.
CHANTS: Tea party:“USA! USA! USA!” Unions: “Banks got bailed out! People got sold out!”
SIGNS: Tea party: “Redistribute My Work Ethic, Not My Wealth.” Unions: “Stop the War on the Working People.”
FUNNIEST DONALD TRUMP SIGN: Tea party: “Obama…You’re Fired!!!! -Trump” Unions: “Chop From the Top,” with an image of Trump.
HOW ONE DEMONSTRATOR WOULD FIX THE DEFICIT:Tea party: “We need to stop spending. As an example, we should cut the Environmental Protection Agency.”—Greg Sterkson Unions: “We have to cut things that are unnecessary; you know, not spend $2,000 for a wrench, things like that.” –Karen Dellelo
HOW ONE DEMONSTRATOR FINISHES THIS SENTENCE: “I THINK PRESIDENT OBAMA IS A...” Tea party: “…hardcore Marxist, but that’s just my personal opinion.”—Ty Raddue. Unions: “…sadly, a sellout. He is more practical than principled.”—Don Baham.
learning from those exquisite older animals. Let's do everything we can to give freedom to one elephant at least -- more space for Packy to walk in his twilight years. Though I live on a fixed income, I'd gladly donate something to help Packy.
I saw your reporter taking video. Why not post the racist, leftist hecklers against the black tea party members? Or how about the lefties hurling expletive laden invective at veterans. Or the guy who said he wiped his *** with the flag Epic.It's actually made national news. Not Portland's, though. Here's where you can find the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RgV3PZkJmk4
Sweetheart; do you suffer from "Selective Hearing", because you left out the part where the Tea Party STARTED the "Name Calling" incident by screaming "NAZI" at us. In the exchange, I can quote "other" words used by the tolerant Tea Party like; Faggot, Union Scum, Communists, plus the "F" BOMB, and you had "Special" words for the Veterans in the Counter Demonstration like; "Liar" & "Traitor".
I was completely appalled at the viciousness and hateful speech directed at Tea Party Members by leftists if Portland. If nothing else, it shows they have no real arguements to counter the tea party.
Worst of all, the local media mostly ignored all the hateful remarks and signs.
I was appalled too, at the Tea Party hurling insults like; NAZI, City Scum, traitor, and FAGGOT at the counter demonstrators, and there is NO DOUBT, that the Counter Demonstrators returned your insults IN KIND. As far a us insulting vererans, that is a lie, in fact YOU called certain members of the counter demonstration "Traitors" when they identified themselves to you as Veterans,[I was one of those veterans]. Sell your lies to FAUX News, Portland ain't buying!
i love it
learning from those exquisite older animals. Let's do everything we can to give freedom to one elephant at least -- more space for Packy to walk in his twilight years. Though I live on a fixed income, I'd gladly donate something to help Packy.
I saw your reporter taking video. Why not post the racist, leftist hecklers against the black tea party members? Or how about the lefties hurling expletive laden invective at veterans. Or the guy who said he wiped his *** with the flag Epic.It's actually made national news. Not Portland's, though. Here's where you can find the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RgV3PZkJmk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V7l-pEBYeLI
Sweetheart; do you suffer from "Selective Hearing", because you left out the part where the Tea Party STARTED the "Name Calling" incident by screaming "NAZI" at us. In the exchange, I can quote "other" words used by the tolerant Tea Party like; Faggot, Union Scum, Communists, plus the "F" BOMB, and you had "Special" words for the Veterans in the Counter Demonstration like; "Liar" & "Traitor".
Here's where Unions have taken us:
www.laborpains.org
I was completely appalled at the viciousness and hateful speech directed at Tea Party Members by leftists if Portland. If nothing else, it shows they have no real arguements to counter the tea party.
Worst of all, the local media mostly ignored all the hateful remarks and signs.
I was appalled too, at the Tea Party hurling insults like; NAZI, City Scum, traitor, and FAGGOT at the counter demonstrators, and there is NO DOUBT, that the Counter Demonstrators returned your insults IN KIND. As far a us insulting vererans, that is a lie, in fact YOU called certain members of the counter demonstration "Traitors" when they identified themselves to you as Veterans,[I was one of those veterans]. Sell your lies to FAUX News, Portland ain't buying!